Method of treating knitted synthetic fabrics to simulate matelasse cloth and resulting products

ABSTRACT

TREATING FABRICS OF SYNTHETIC FIBERS, SUCH AS NYLON AND DACRON, WHICH ARE OF KNITTED STRUCTURE, IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THEY ACQUIRE THE PROPERTIES, CHARACTERISTIC TEXTURES AND DESIGNS OF MATELASSE CLOTH. THIS IS EFFLECTED BY PLACING ON THE KNITTED GOODS A FINE MESH SCREEN, HAVING SUCH INTAGLIO DESIGN FORMED IN FINE PERFORATION THERETHROUGH, APPLYING TO AND THROUGH THE PERFORATION OF THE SCREEN A PASTE CONTAINING A GUM AND A LIQUID CONTRACTING AGENT WHICH IS PENETRATIVE OF THE SCREEN AND OF THE FIBERS OF THE FABRIC WITHOUT DIFFUSION OR DISPERSION, FOLLOWED BY REMOVING THE SCREEN AND DEVELOPING THE DESIGN BY DRYING AND HEATING THE TREATED MATERIAL.

United States Patent 3,598,513 METHOD OF TREATING KNITTED SYNTHETICFABRICS TO SIMULATE MATELASSE CLOTH AND RESULTING PRODUCTS Louis .C.Galatioto, Bangor, Pa., assignor to Blue Ridge- Winkler Textiles, aDivision of Lehigh Valley Industries, Inc., Bangor, Pa.

No Drawing. Filed Jan. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 701,571 Int. Cl. D06m 13/16US. Cl. 8114.5' 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Treating fabrics ofsynthetic fibers, such as nylon and Dacron, which are of knittedstructure, in such a manner that they acquire the properties,characteristic textures and. designs of Matelasse cloth. This iseffected by placing on the'knitted goods a fine mesh screen, having suchintaglio design formed in fine perforations therethrough, applying toand through the perforations of the screen a paste containing a gum anda liquid contracting agent which is penetrative of the screen and of thefibers of the fabric without diffusion or dispersion, followed byremoving the screen and developing the design by drying and heating thetreated material.

Matelasse cloth is made and patterned upon Jacquard or Dobby looms. Thepatterns stand out and give a pouch or quilted effect. The fabrics thusmade now come in colors and novelty effects, of cotton, silk or wool.The cloth must give good wear, must drape well and handle freely. But,as thus made and of these fibers, they must be laundered with the utmostcare.

Matelasse garments are unusually attractive and are in much demand. Somecotton fabrics are used for bedspreads.

Matelasse means padded or cushioned or mattress in French, and is ofArabian derivation meaning bed-,7 As thus used, textile weaving ofMatelasse goods produces a raised effect by interlacings of the yarn,which form and show a quilted structure and surface of the finishedproduct.

7 It is therefore an object of the present invention to discover meansfor deriving a finished fabric which will simulate Matelasse cloth andwhich will avoid or obviate these limitations and restrictions.

' To this end, the procedure of the invention is applied to a fabricmade by the usual processes of knitting, which can be done in quantityproduction on the usual and simple mechanisms for this purpose, givingan initial, uniform, knitted structure.

Preferably yarns of synthetic fiber, such as Nylon and Dacron, areemployed, colored or not, and of various other properties, as may bedesired, free from the limitations of design weaving.

The knitted, characteristically three-dimensional fabric is contractedin those areas in and to which the intaglio structure of the design isto be developed and the open, knitted structure of the goods is to bereduced and, in such areas, permanently compacted to such configurationand conformation.

ice

'Fabrics which are made from synthetic fibers and filaments by knittingform a material which presents a novel and unique problem in theproduction of a design there on. The structure of the goods opposes'theimpression of the design and also presents morematerial to be reduced,contracted, compacted and retained in the intaglio areas. Yet the entirethickness must be reached by the treatment, contacted, reduced,contracted, compacted and retained in its thus compacted state,accurately, uniformly and permanently. Otherwise, the design effectedthereon and therein will be lost, either at once with resilient yarnsand web structures, or gradually through handling, storage and use.

Moreover, the deep marginal contours of the intaglio areas, in knittedgoods, present deep differentials between the compacted andLin-compacted areas. These marginal contours, if contacted with toofluid a treating medium or one of too low a viscosity or surfacetension, may become wet by and diffuse or disperse the treating agentonto and into the not-to-be compacted areas, thus derogating from thedesign or giving it a hazy, irregular outline, of unsatisfactoryappearance and questionable permanence.

In the matelasse cloth woven on a Jacquard loom such divagation from thedesired design of course does not come into question-for every thread oryarn, both warp and woof, is interlocked at each intersection by eachoperation of the loom, both in the intaglios and in the non-design areasof the goods, as Well. This is especially important along the marginsbetween the retracted design areas and the un-retracted, puffed-up,pouch-like and quilted areas. Hence, the design woven into a matelassecloth is permanent.

To simulate matelasse cloth, therefore, the design in the knittedsynthetic fiber fabrics which are to be made to reproduce it mustpresent a like accuracy of design and permanence of retention.

To this end, a paste is found to be especially effective rather than afluid or liquid treating agent. It is further found that the viscosityof the treating agent, to permit flow, and surface tension, to resistuncontrolled flow, diffusion and dispersion on the surface of the goodsbeyond the point of contact therewith, is represented by one of about3,500 to 7,000 centipoises, as measured by a Brookfield synchro-lectricviscosimeter.

To develop such consistency in the paste, a water soluble, inert gum,which will not affect adversely the material, which will be compatiblewith the treating agent and which may be subsequently washed from thegoods with water, has been found suitable and effective. Such a gum isdiscovered to be gum tragacanth, which dissolves in water and alsoprovides for forming a paste with a satisfactory consistency with thereducing and compacting agents which are active with it upon thesynthetic fibers and filaments of the yarns and goods.

Reducing and contracting, or compacting agents which have been found tobe most satisfactory and useful for this purpose comprise phenol,tri-chloro-phenol, metaand 'meta-paracresol, ortho-cresol,4-methyl-thio-metacresol, xylenol and cresylic acid. In general, it maybe said that the phenol group, in combination with a free hydroxylradical not offset nor nullified by immediate or close association orsubstitution in the phenyl radical, is effective to reduce, contract andcompact the yarns 3 and structure of knitted synthetic fabrics, withaccuracy and a permanent retention of their thus compacted relationship.

Thus, a paste of suitable consistency, of about 4,500 centipoises, maybe prepared from a base solution of 6% of gum tragacanth in water andadding thereto the active reducing and contracting agent, also inaqueous solu tion, in the desired amount or range of proportions.

Pastes of the following compositions, as thus prepared, have been foundsuitable to apply and satisfactory in results:

Percent 6% gum tragacanth solution in water 25-65 Compacting agent inwater 1020 For example, a mixture of 40% of 6% gum tragacanth solution,in water, plus 16% of 92% phenol, in water, was very satisfactory.

To such mixtures, water may be added to develop or adjust theconsistency desired in terms of the screen used, the size or sizes ofthe perforations therein, the areas involved, the nature and size ordenier of the synthetic fiber or yarn of the goods to be treated, thethickness of the fabric and the openness or closeness of the knittedstructure.

The fabric is laid fiat, on a firm support, and in the operation by handthe design screen is laid flat and firmly positioned thereon. The pasteis spread over the top surface of the entire screen, by hand or with aspatula or a straight edge, uniformly and with an even pressure, forcingthe paste through the perforations of the screen and into contact withand through the interstices of the knitted fabric beneath.

When this has been done, the screen is lifted off from the stretch offabric, which is then advanced, the screen brought into registry withthe next adjacent area to be treated, again placed firmly thereon, andthe operation repeated, with fresh additions of the paste to the screenas needed.

When the design has been thus completed, and one, two, or more screensmay be thus used for the purpose, somewhat as in block printing, thetreated cloth may be dried at room temperature or up to 250 F., therebydeveloping the action of the compacting agent on the goods to itsmaximum elfect and by heating to 275 to 400 F. for 3 to 10 minutes; thenwashed with warm water and/or soap at 160 F. and finally allowed to dryor treated with a softener, if desired, and framed to the desired width.

To overcome or prevent the odor of the phenol or other treating agent,which may be objectionable to some, ammonia may be added to the washwaters, when developing at high temperatures is omitted, or drying maybe done in closed, ventilated chambers.

The method may also be carried out mechanically, as by passing acontinuous sheet of the fabric over a firm, horizontal support, applyinga continuous design-screen thereto, in firm, even, close contact withits upper surface; feeding the compacting paste on top of thedesign-screen; and passing the assembled fabric, design-screen andtopping of paste beneath a horizontal, closely gauged, doctor-blade. Thelatter may be stiff or resilient and one or several may be employed tospread out the paste and to force it evenly over and through theperforations in the design-screen and also into and through theinterstices of the knitted fabric therebeneath.

In such operations, the consistency of the paste prevents itsuncontrolled migration, diffusion or dispersion beyond the points ofcontact of the paste with the fabric through the perforations in thedesign-screen.

The continuous design-screen is then separated from the treated fabricand returne dfor re-application to the incoming web of fresh materialand the treated web of 4 cloth may be passed directly through a dryingchamber, at 250 F., and/or passed through a loop dryer at 275 -400 F.,for 3 to 10 minutes, and then through a washer, with soap solutionand/or hot water, and finally dried and framed to proper width. Asoftener may be applied, if desired.

The treated goods may be dyed, in which case the cloth is passed intoand through an appropriate-dyeing vat or process.

It is found that the fabric to be treated may be already of any of manycolors or shades before the design-screen treatment. Also, thecompacting paste may be mixed with suitable dyes and thus applied to thefabric, thus producing a colored pattern in the intaglio areas of thegoods.

As is indicated above, in order to develop the color a steaming of about5 pounds pressure for about an hour then becomes necessary.

Either by hand or mechanically, a plurality of designscreens may beemployed with difierent types of designs thereon and therein; andseparate, correspondingly colored pastes applied by them to the goodsthus to develop a multi-patterned and multi-colored cloth, adapted tothe uses and purposes which it is thus designed to serve.

The designs are in all cases accurately formed and developed on, in andthrough the knitted fabric and are permanently maintained and retainedthroughout manufacture, storage, handling, shipment and use. Moreover,they may be easily and freely laundered, safely and with satisfactoryresults.

While the above descriptions are directed to knitted goods, because withknitted fabrics the matelasse effects and appearances are morepronounced, woven fabrics made of synthetic fibers may be made toacquire some of the three-dimensional characteristics of the knittedgoods, as by using a warp of nylon and filling of cotton, or both thewarp and filling may be of nylon or Dacron, and under low tensions ofweaving the filling may be made to enhance the thickness and hence thethree-dimensional aspect of the porduct, thereby putting it into thecategory, in respect of the present invention, of goods made byknitting.

Iclaim:

1. In a method of creating a three-dimensional, embossed design upon andin knitted nylon fabrics which includes placing a design-screen, havingfine perforations therethrough in the intaglio areas of the design andimpervious in the non-design areas, in position upon the surface of theknitted fabric, spreading a paste of a thickening agent and a compactingagent over the top surface of the design-screen and through theperforations of the screen and the interstices of the knitted fabrictherebeneath, lifting the design-screen from the surface of the fabric,developing the action of the compacting agent on the fabric by heating,washing the treated fabric with water and drying, the improvement whichcomprises using a compacting agent in said paste selected from the.group consisting of phenol, meta-cresol, meta-para-cresol, orthocresol,4-methyl-thio-meta-cresol and cresylic acid.

2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said thickening agent is gumtragacanth.

3. The improvement of claim 2 wherein said paste comprises approximately1.5 to 4.0% by weight of said gum and approximately 10 to 20% by weightof said compacting agent, in water.

4. In a method of creating a three-dimensional, embossed design upon andin knitted polyethylene terephthalate fabrics which includes placing adesign-screen, having fine perforations therethrough in the intaglioareas of the design and impervious in the non-design areas, in positionupon the surface of the knitted fabric, spreading a paste of athickening agent and a compacting agent over the top surface of thedesign-screen and through the perforations of the screen and theinterstices of the knitted fabric therebeneath, lifting thedesign-screen from the surface of the fabric, developing the action ofthe compacting agent on the fabric by heating, washing the treatedfabric with water and drying, the improvement which comprises using acompacting agent in said paste selected from the group consisting ofphenol, meta-cresol, meta-para-cresol and ortho-cresol.

5. The improvement of claim 4, wherein said thickening agent is gumtragacanth.

6. The improvement of claim 4 wherein said paste comprises approximately1.5 to 4.0% by weight of said gum and approximately 10 to 20% by weightof said compacting agent, in water.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1962 Kern 2/1963 Fountain eta1.

7/ 1942 Shane U.S. Cl. X.R.

